The U.S. Department of Defense has identified a National Police Force that will join thousands of other soldiers deployed in Los Angeles to protect federal immigration officials and property amid President Donald Trump’s deportation efforts.
Usnorthcom announced Tuesday that the 49th Army Police Brigade will serve under central command along with the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and two U.S. Marines, serving a total of approximately 4,100 soldiers.
The Pentagon initially said these were “additional” soldiers, but later revealed that they were part of the current development.
US Marines defend federal buildings in Los Angeles (AP Photo/Noah Burger) on Friday, June 13, 2025
The order has subsided much of civil unrest associated with the ongoing migrant and customs enforcement attacks, as well as anger over the militarization of the city.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass lifted nighttime exits issued for the single mile downtown, introduced Tuesday in response to protest-related violence and clashes with police.
“As directed by the Secretary of Defense, by coordinating with the US Northern Command, approximately 2,000 additional California Army National Guard soldiers will be activated with Title 10 status, supporting the protection of federal functions, personnel and property in the Gretro San Angeles area.”
Additional troops currently trained in crowd control, escalation and use of force rules will not participate in civil law enforcement activities, federal officials said.
Protesters will face California State Guard soldiers and police outside the federal building as protests continue in Los Angeles after a series of immigration attacks in Los Angeles, California on June 9, 2025. (David McNew/Getty Images)
It is unclear whether the additional developments are linked to recent statements made by independent presidents of Democrat-run cities like LA, Chicago and New York, calling them “Democrats’ power centers,” which are “resident of millions of illegal foreigners.”
In a Sunday post to his social media platform, Truth Social, President Trump called “Do everything in their power to achieve the very important goal of providing the single largest, massive deportation program in history.”
“Massive deportation program” expected to increase in Los Angeles
At the G7 conference in Canada, the president doubled his inflammatory rhetoric.
“Yeah, the city is where you really have what you call a sanctuary city and that’s where people are,” he told reporters. “Looking at New York and LA – LA, those people aren’t from LA, they’re not from California, they’re most of those people, a lot of those people.”
The Trump administration’s deployment of the National Guard and Marines to the city has been subject to intense criticism from state and local leaders, including government officials Gavin Newsom and Mayor Base. However, a federal court of appeals on Tuesday appeared to have a tendency for the president to maintain control of California’s National Guard forces.
Last week, the district court ordered Trump to return control of the security forces to government Newsom. The San Francisco hearing on Tuesday focused on whether the district court order would take effect, but broader cases have progressed through the legal system and even potentially reached the Supreme Court.
This was the first time since 1965 that a president had revitalized the state’s National Guard without the governor’s permission.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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